


A New Day

by itslauram



Category: Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:14:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27093382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itslauram/pseuds/itslauram
Relationships: Claire Beauchamp/Jamie Fraser
Comments: 33
Kudos: 172





	A New Day

Running an exhausted, aching hand over my face, I sighed. Staff was short, as employees took off with their families for summer holiday. A temporary lapse in sanity and an agreement to cover an extra shift had left me dead on my feet. The exhausted pigeon meme Geillis had texted earlier in the week? Right on point. Not since my early days as a resident had I experienced this sort of weary-to-the-bone fatigue, and all I wanted was a scalding hot shower and my husband. Pulling off my scrub cap and hair tie, my end of shift ritual signifying my impending freedom, a mess of curls fell loose around my shoulders. I grabbed my bag and my badge and clocked out.

~~~~~~~~

The orange cat, who had taken up residence on our front porch, greeted me, and I could see the glow of the telly behind the curtains. Jamie was home. Pulling myself up the steps, I slipped inside.

The jingling of my keys in the lock had made my presence known. I heard a muffled sniff and saw him quickly wipe his face of any incriminating evidence of tears before he turned to face me.

“J? Are you alright?” I hid my smile behind a closed fist. My husband’s affinity for cheesy, romantic dramas had only endeared him to me even more. It hadn’t surprised me in the slightest bit to discover this after a few months of dating. Of course. Jamie _would._

“Oh, aye. Just uh, something in my eye.” He sniffed again and cleared his throat as I walked towards the couch and he opened his arms, “Come here, I missed ye.”

The only task I had managed to accomplish was kicking off my clogs by the door and I hesitated. “No, Jamie, I’m so gross. I’m still in my scrubs, let me—“

“I dinna care.”

He cut me off and pulled me down into his lap, wrapping his arms around me and tucking my head into his neck. I closed my eyes and inhaled, a mix of cologne, a faint whiff of laundry detergent, and something else distinctly male, something I could only identify as just Jamie.

Home.

Exhaling, I bought my hand to the back of his head and tangled my fingers into the curls at his nape. We stayed like this for several moments, content to just breathe each other in.

Inwardly I laughed at the situation. After years of priding myself on the fact that I did not require a man to feel whole, here I was clinging to my husband as if we’d been apart for a decade. I was a successful physician, an independent woman. Prior to meeting Jamie, I’d even go as far as to brand myself a cynic when it came to relationships and love itself.

I had been called to the A&E one evening when a certain James Fraser’s niece took a tumble off a trampoline, resulting in quite the nasty fractured humerus. ( _”My sister is gonna kill me!”_ ) My entire universe tipped on its axis, blindsiding me.

I was a goner, and he knew it, too. My sweet Jamie. We fell in love hard, and fast, with an intensity that made my head spin. I was _that_ girl. We were _that_ couple.

Fast forward four years, as I sat in my husband’s embrace attempting to keep my eyes open, I couldn’t find it in myself to care.

“What?” he asked. I hadn’t realized I’d laughed out loud.

“Nothing.” Lifting my face from his neck to rest my forehand against his, I pressed a kiss to his mouth. “I missed you, too,” I whispered.

Brushing curls behind my ears, he moved his lips to the bridge of my nose and hummed, content, his spearmint breath soft on my face. (How did he _always_ smell so good?) “Shower and bed?” he asked.

I nodded, disentangling myself from us and trudging towards the bedroom.

~~~~~~~~

I found Jamie in bed reading, the duvet turned down on my side as I climbed in, sheets soft against my freshly showered skin.

“I could sleep for ten years,” I slurred, laying my head on his chest and snaking my arm around his waist. I hooked my thumb into the waistband of his sweatpants and melted into the mattress. Jamie’s fingers wound themselves into my hair and my eyelids grew heavy.

“Any news on the position?” he asked.

I had made a conscious effort not to jinx myself, but a possible promotion to Chief of Surgery was headed into promising territory. During my years at the hospital, I had developed a good rapport with the current, soon-to-retire Chief, and over the last week, he had been dropping not-so-subtle hints in my favor.

“Not yet. Soon. I hope.”

Jamie hummed and buried his nose in my hair. We lay in silence, breathing slowly in sync. Eventually he reached over and turned off the bedside lamp, darkness permeating the room. After some time, assuming I was asleep, he began to settle, and I noticed his telltale signs of sleep claiming him.

“Don’t forget about Friday.”

This startled him slightly out of his light dozing, but his arm tightened around my waist and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Aye. Of course. Already cleared the afternoon and arranged to move a few meetings around. Dinna fash, mo chridhe. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He kissed the top of my head.

My hand slid down giving my abdomen a soft caress, saying hello to the small but noticeable bump. It had been a long and, at times, painful road. The months of prescriptions, being poked and prodded, occasionally feeling like a science experiment, only to result in a broken heart and tears when, once again, we weren’t successful.

The light at the end of the tunnel finally emerged and here we were now, on the verge of a new adventure. Our first sonogram appointment two days away and my heart squeezed in my chest at the prospect of seeing our wee one for the first time. Granted, he or she was still nothing but a little fish swimming in my belly, but the affection I felt for the tiny life inside of me was quite staggering already.

It’s our turn, my love.

Reaching back and pulling the duvet higher up over my shoulder, I slid a leg between Jamie’s and let my heavy eyelids finally close.

“Night, Jamie. Love you.”

“I love ye,” he responded. That sentiment never left unanswered by him. No matter where we were, what we were doing, he could quite possibly be involved in the most important business venture of his entire life, and I had no doubt he would stop everything to tell me he loved me, should I need to hear it.

A feeling of complete and utter peace settled over my mind and body, and I succumbed to the bliss of deep sleep.

_Let the rain come down  
And wash away my tears  
Let it fill my soul  
And drown my fears  
Let it shatter the walls  
For a new sun  
A new day has come_


End file.
